Softest ride for passenger

[Bighead]

My advice is to buy a covertible and sell the valk.

[MarkT]

Right about it being trivial.  Hardly worth mentioning.  IIRC it amounted to changing one of the bushing sleeves.  Shortening it some or drilling it some.  So trivial it was 5 minutes maybe and I'm not sure exactly what I did. You don't need a metal shop like mine.

Something I've noticed.  Has anybody experienced springs getting weaker over time?  It seems mine have. I used to run the 140-200 springs at half preload and no bottoming even with my 210# bro on the back.  Never bottomed with SO on the back even with trailer.  Now I've had to crank it up to full preload to prevent bottoming. Is this just me?  Haven't checked the scales lately but my pants still fit the same. This is with only 15,000 miles on the bike since installing the shocks. Though the highway miles pulling heavy trailers.

Well I finally found somebody who knows his products over at Progressive. Ask for Jorge.  (Frank is gone.) Turns out the "dampers" are matched to the spring rates so changing the springs results in mis-matched behavior. That doesn't explain why they sell a spring-changing tool.  Maybe seal, valve, or oil maint/repair I guess.  So instead of upgrading the springs again I'm going to a higher-capacity shock to handle the trailer weight - the 4039's with 210/250 springs. Maybe put these 444's on Deerslayer - really like the shock. Better than the air 416's.

[Bagger John - #3785]

...That doesn't explain why they sell a spring-changing tool...

I have a Progressive-branded shock spring tool in my rollaway; bought new from them in the late 80s when I was playing with CB750 SOHC Fours and experimenting with their replacement suspension components.

Some of their older shocks - along with those of their competitors, like RC - were in fact set up for simple spring swaps and no damper modifications, though I suspect that time and technology rendered that approach obsolete. Thus, you may be on to something vis the seal servicing bit.